Palmer Art Museum Paradigm Shift


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Upon entering the Palmer Art Museum, I noticed that the first two rooms  consisted of a majority of paintings and portraits from the 1500s. As I walked through the other rooms, the works of art changed from paintings to sculptures and pottery, mostly made years later than the first two rooms. Making my way upstairs, I began to get a more modern sense of art work. Rather than seeing naked women and paintings of Jesus carrying the cross, I was looking at pictures of the modern working man in the 1950’s, paintings of farm houses, forests, and even mothers and their children. That is when I realized the excessive amount of paradigm shifts that have occurred in art work throughout the ages.

The first picture depicts Jesus, carrying the cross, leading up to his crucifixion. This picture by Francesco Fracanzano was made in 1647, a time where Religion played a major part in the every day life of citizens. The second picture, by Giovanni Baglione in 1601, depicts an Angel healing a man who had been shot by an arrow. Once again, Religion is the main motive for this picture. Both of these were found in the second room on the first floor of the museum, consisting of Religious pictures and medieval portraits. However, as I went upstairs, the third picture attached, caught my eye. Instead of seeing a picture involving religion, I saw a picture involving magic. The Sorceress, by Arthur B. Davies, painted in 1862, depicts some type of witch, essentially casting a spell on the man in front of her. The paradigm shift between these centuries shows how the people of the times went from believing Jesus and God were the almighty powers surrounding them, to believing that there were supernatural forces and powers that people could possess. The paintings varied greatly in not only their messages but also the beliefs behind them. Perhaps the questions at the time were, Was God the only supernatural being or did people around us possess those powers too? This shift shows us that Religion began to decline from being the biggest focus, and people started to open their minds to other things within their world.

4 thoughts on “Palmer Art Museum Paradigm Shift”

  1. The decline of religion from the everyday lives of people is a theme that I noticed while walking through the museum as well. However, I did not notice the shift towards the belief of other supernatural forces originally. I think the painting The Sorceress definitely shows that change very well though, and as a whole, society has in fact began to go towards looking to things within the world instead of religion.

  2. I enjoyed your post because I did not previously make the connection between these paintings, but your idea about paradigm shifts in how people view religion is very intriguing. We would probably all be better off if we stayed open and respectful of perspectives different from the ones we have ourselves.

  3. I really like how you described the setup of the museum, and how paradigm shifts in art and society were apparent just by walking through the building- I agree! You had a very detailed description of the many paintings and works of art, which I liked very much.

  4. I really agree with the idea that you bring up at the end that people stop focusing on religion and open their minds. I like how in the later art work the artists seem to be acting on their own accord instead of based on the Churches.

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